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If you’re looking for a snowshoe trail that is close to Denver, Berthoud Pass provides numerous opportunities.  Jones pass and Butler Gulch are two great snowshoe trails located just pass Berthoud Falls on US40.  Both trails start at essentially the same place.  To get there take US40 towards Winter Park and turn left at the Henderson Mine Road just past Berthoud Falls.  Follow the road to the mine at which point you’ll veer right following the signs for Jones Pass.  Follow Jones Pass Road for an additional mile or two to the parking area.

At this point, its a good idea to decide which trail you want to showshoe.  The trail junction happens about a 1/4 mile up Jones Pass Road.  Left is Butler Gulch and right is Jones Pass.  Since Jones Pass is open to snowmobiles our group decided Butler Gulch would be a better trail.

Bulter Gulch is 5.7 miles round trip with just under 2000ft of elevation gain and is forested until the end where trail goers dance on the edge of timberline.  Butler Gulch is a fine snowshoe and ski trail and that fact is well known.  Even though we encountered at least 20-30 other people on the trail it didn’t seem over-crowded.  There were plenty of spur trails that allowed us to escape the hard pack of the main trail.

The Butler Gulch trail offers some great oppertunities for photographers.  The trail itself winds through the forest and across numerous creeks and the end of the trail provides some especially beautiful pictures of the surrounding peaks.  You’ll find our pictures below.

Altogether, we spent about 4 hours on the trail, which gave us plenty of time at the top and time to play with the dogs throughout the trip.  Try to arrive at the trail head early; we didn’t arrive at the trail head until about 11am and the parking area was crowded.  In the end, everyone in our group enjoyed the trail and had a great time.

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